Official Thread Sea of Thieves
- Thread starter MosquitoSmasher
- Start date
A few more impressions...all positive! Very encouraging:
"Sea of Thieves Stole My Heart at E3 2016"
"Sea of Thieves has potential to be one of the best Xbox exclusives in years"
"Playing Sea of Thieves with a Gigantic Smile on my Face"
"Surprise hit of E3 Sea of Thieves had me grinning ear-to-ear like an idiot for my entire play session, and to me that’s bloody notable."
"Sea of Thieves may be the best damn game in the entire place"
"Sea of Thieves Stole My Heart at E3 2016"
"Sea of Thieves has potential to be one of the best Xbox exclusives in years"
"Playing Sea of Thieves with a Gigantic Smile on my Face"
"Surprise hit of E3 Sea of Thieves had me grinning ear-to-ear like an idiot for my entire play session, and to me that’s bloody notable."
"Sea of Thieves may be the best damn game in the entire place"
Last edited:
Don't want Rare doing the Fable franchise. Want Rare creating new games.
Microsoft should never have closed Lionhead.
Awesome!
After several months of whoring Titanfall, Battlefield and Horizon 3 this game will be a very nice change of pace.
I hadn't seen these impressions before...just makes the wait tougher
http://www.raregamer.co.uk/sea-of-thieves-first/
In the end, we were lead up through to the demo area where we would collectively experience Sea of Thieves for the first time – at this point, nobody outside of Rare had ever had this opportunity, we were beside ourselves with excitement.
After we were divided into teams, we were lead into separate sound-proof booths with an impressive brig-like exterior. On the inside, each booth had been fitted with a flat-screen television showing off the latest version of Sea of Thieves, a sleek headset to communicate to the rest of our crew, and a forward-facing camera intended to capture our reactions in real-time.
At the top of the booth was a picture of the pirate we’d be playing as, along with a signal light that would turn green when we could begin our adventure. Gripping the controller and prepared to see through the eyes of ‘CannonballChris’, I took in what little area of the game world I could see:
I was inside a building – a tavern I soon deduced, after taking in the low hanging chandelier made from a disused ship wheel and the worn countertop that served as the bar. I could make out the nearest window across the room, flora was being whipped about by a gentle breeze in its frame.
My crewmates were also in the tavern; we discussed what we could make out while we waited for our lights to turn green.
We were given no instruction by any of Rare’s staff on how to play through Sea of Thieves, the only bit of guidance we had was a scrap of paper underneath our screens that showed us the basic controller map. We could use this to learn how to walk, how to sprint and how to jump – anything more complicated would have to be found out by the seat of our own wits. Without any real-world sailing experience, much of us didn’t have much seat to go on regardless…
As we bantered back and forth, one of us realised that the light had switched on, and without a moments hesitation we went forth into the wide world!
The first thing I chose to do was see what CannonballChris had carried with him into the tavern, which turned out to be a large tankard of grog and a thin plank of wood.
Swinging the plank like a make-shift weapon had no effect, so I tried to drink some of the grog instead and was greeted with a long slurp. I celebrated this small success with another drink. And then another. And then another.
It wasn’t long before CannonballChris had drained his tankard entirely and began to wobble on the spot – I was pleased to see that Rare had taken the time to accurately recreate the drunken sway that many of us might be familiar with. In a bid to follow my crew out of the tavern in diagonal strides, I soon found them heading towards a large ship that had been docked nearby.
I hoped that I wouldn’t fall off of the ship when we were sailing due to my state, but in an ironic twist of fate, I fell off the dock just trying to clamor aboard.
I suppose this is what you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning.
Thankfully I managed to sober up somewhat as we gathered aboard the deck, and my crew began to work out the dynamics of sailing.
We tried splitting off so that we were each responsible for our own task, but as we waited on the pirate slowly spinning the capstan (the wheel that raises and lowers the anchor), a moment of enlightenment came over us as all when we realised we could pitch in together and get the job done faster!
Sure enough, the cranking of the chain increased as we surrounded the capstan until the anchor had been taken aboard, and without anything holding us back we soon found ourselves floating free.
We split up once more as we took to the helm, and in a matter of moments we soon discovered that the sails could be manipulated via the pulleys to catch the wind.
Together, we worked through the rigging and had our masts in full form and seconds later we had begun sailing out into open water under our own direction!
A direction which was done so without any instruction or tips from the Sea of Thieves team – it was just us on the water with the whim of adventure taking us away.
We grinned ear to ear as we began drifting further from our familiar tavern and towards an island off in the distance. We began roaming around the deck in preparation of things to come; we fired off a few cannonballs into the air in celebration, we toured the lower decks for further plotting. I foolishly decided that I could get a better vantage point by approaching the bow of the ship, only to fall off completely when I couldn’t hold my balance!
Breaking the surface, I plunged into the waters and shouted for my crew to swing the ship around. Luckily my crew wasn’t entirely heartless, and the anchor was dropped in response – though this took a few seconds to orchestrate, so it did look as if the ship might have been sailing off into the horizon.
It was entirely possible for my crew to abandon me in those equally unforgiving waters if they saw fit; there’s a sense of panic as you’re left in the middle of endless ocean, the rolling waves crashing around as the feeling of abandon sinks in.
As I began to clamour aboard, the rest of my crew prepared to sail off once again; they rushed off to the capstan and began to bring in the anchor, our appointed captain set a course for continued adventure and we were off!
It was only a few moments later that we realised the sun had been setting behind our ship – everything had been bathed in a warm orange glow, and fractured light sparkled across the water as far as any of us could see. We abandoned our posts to take in the sight, just staring in awe across endless horizon. The visuals within Sea of Thieves had impressed us before, but taking in our first shared sunset gave a glimpse of how immersive and awe-inspiring everything could be.
Afrer sailing through an expanse of ocean, our new motivation was to explore one of the nearby islands that came into view. We decided to venture towards a tall island that seemed to harbor a large spire in its center – we would come to refer to this as ‘Spiral Mountain’, given its similarity to the hub world from Banjo-Kazooie.
Suddenly, we managed to catch sight of another ships mast over the horizon!
The crew was set into frenzy as we set a new course – our ship turned swiftly, away from the beckoning shores of Spiral Mountain and into dangerous waters. While others might have been a little more diplomatic, our sense of due piracy took us to our cannons as we prepared for our chance meeting.
The next few minutes in Sea of Thieves were a blur of intense action, overwhelming victory and gut-wrenching panic.
When we were close enough to spot the crew of the opposing ship, we turned sharply to align ourselves with their cannons and began to fire! Some of our cannonballs soared over their sails, while others were directed into the depths surrounding the ship. We were only just learning how to fire properly when one of their cannons met the side of our ship!
There was a brilliant splintering of the deck as their cannonball exploded on impact, we had taken the first hit! Our crew was dauntless as we carried on through a second and third impact – we sent a volley of cannonballs in response, and luckily most managed to collide with their ship!
One of my shots was successful enough to punch through their lower deck, and I was immediately rewarded with a orchestrated sting!
Each time we managed to land a successive hit, the brief bit of music would rise in pitch, and it wasn’t long before our shouts of triumph were coupled with a stirring conquest anthem.
We dealt and received damage at an equal rate, and after a particularly aggressive shot brought with it a splintering eruption in our lower quarters followed by a rushing of water, we knew that one of us would have to inspect the damage below.
It wasn’t good, as you might expect – our trading of blows had left the hull of ship resembling Swiss cheese, and with each hole came with it a torrent of rushing water.
Approaching the spot of impact, we soon discovered that the previously ‘useless’ planks of wood could be used to cover the holes which prevented any further flooding.
We toured the lower decks in an effort to find all of the holes and patch them up, and it was to our horror that we discovered much of the brig was underwater. To add further insult to injury, there were new cannonballs tearing through the upper decks which made for serious multi-tasking.
Luckily our crew maintaining the cannons above had become especially adept at firing the cannons at the lowest decks of our rival ship, and after a few moments of fast-paced conflict obscured by heavy cannon smoke, we had managed to punch several lethal holes into their hull.
The rival crew had soon become overwhelmed with the damage we had dealt to their ship, and it soon began to sink as it invited the seas aboard. We watched them struggle to find the highest point of their ship, we watched as they tried to sail off to Spiral Mountain, all while spattering their damaged ship with cannonballs.
After an intense battle on the Sea of Thieves, it was finally over; their ship had taken on too much water and it began to disappear from view. Ours was hardly sea-worthy either, but it managed to stay afloat at least. We had won, and after celebrating our victory with shouts of praise, congratulations and laughter, we sailed our ship boldly to new horizons together.
As we left the Sea of Thieves booths it was obvious that Rare had created something very special – we set out for a mammoth task with very little instruction and nothing offered from any of the developers. Despite the factors that were against us, we managed to work together and figure out the mechanics of sailing, combat, repairing and even grog swilling!
The experience was one that is still as vivid as they day we set out as pirates, and I can’t wait to rejoin my crew, or perhaps even turn against them when Sea of Thieves reaches our shores.
Everyone at Rare should be incredibly proud of what has been accomplished, and continues to be accomplished every day with Sea of Thieves – a golden era has returned and this truly is their most ambitious undertaking, and it shows through the tiniest detail.
To Alex, Amir, Chad, Daniel, Hyle, Jackie, Jephren, Mandie, Mike, Olivier, Rodrigo and Sebastian, the days spent with you sticks out as some of the best memories I’ve ever had – we laughed together, cried together and sailed together. You’re all just a few clicks away on social media, but I still miss you all!
To everyone at Rare, I can’t thank you enough for this invitation, it has been the absolute highlight of my life and meeting you all was an utter dream come true. You’ve made all of this possible and you should take great pride in lighting the fires in the hearts of your fans across the world. Thank you so much.
To those who haven’t played Sea of Thieves before, I hope this experience provided even the faintest glimpse into a world dominated by enthusiastic highs, smooth sailing, dangerous depths and an unparalleled era of pirate adventure!
http://www.raregamer.co.uk/sea-of-thieves-first/
In the end, we were lead up through to the demo area where we would collectively experience Sea of Thieves for the first time – at this point, nobody outside of Rare had ever had this opportunity, we were beside ourselves with excitement.
After we were divided into teams, we were lead into separate sound-proof booths with an impressive brig-like exterior. On the inside, each booth had been fitted with a flat-screen television showing off the latest version of Sea of Thieves, a sleek headset to communicate to the rest of our crew, and a forward-facing camera intended to capture our reactions in real-time.
At the top of the booth was a picture of the pirate we’d be playing as, along with a signal light that would turn green when we could begin our adventure. Gripping the controller and prepared to see through the eyes of ‘CannonballChris’, I took in what little area of the game world I could see:
I was inside a building – a tavern I soon deduced, after taking in the low hanging chandelier made from a disused ship wheel and the worn countertop that served as the bar. I could make out the nearest window across the room, flora was being whipped about by a gentle breeze in its frame.
My crewmates were also in the tavern; we discussed what we could make out while we waited for our lights to turn green.
We were given no instruction by any of Rare’s staff on how to play through Sea of Thieves, the only bit of guidance we had was a scrap of paper underneath our screens that showed us the basic controller map. We could use this to learn how to walk, how to sprint and how to jump – anything more complicated would have to be found out by the seat of our own wits. Without any real-world sailing experience, much of us didn’t have much seat to go on regardless…
As we bantered back and forth, one of us realised that the light had switched on, and without a moments hesitation we went forth into the wide world!
The first thing I chose to do was see what CannonballChris had carried with him into the tavern, which turned out to be a large tankard of grog and a thin plank of wood.
Swinging the plank like a make-shift weapon had no effect, so I tried to drink some of the grog instead and was greeted with a long slurp. I celebrated this small success with another drink. And then another. And then another.
It wasn’t long before CannonballChris had drained his tankard entirely and began to wobble on the spot – I was pleased to see that Rare had taken the time to accurately recreate the drunken sway that many of us might be familiar with. In a bid to follow my crew out of the tavern in diagonal strides, I soon found them heading towards a large ship that had been docked nearby.
I hoped that I wouldn’t fall off of the ship when we were sailing due to my state, but in an ironic twist of fate, I fell off the dock just trying to clamor aboard.
I suppose this is what you do with a drunken sailor early in the morning.
Thankfully I managed to sober up somewhat as we gathered aboard the deck, and my crew began to work out the dynamics of sailing.
We tried splitting off so that we were each responsible for our own task, but as we waited on the pirate slowly spinning the capstan (the wheel that raises and lowers the anchor), a moment of enlightenment came over us as all when we realised we could pitch in together and get the job done faster!
Sure enough, the cranking of the chain increased as we surrounded the capstan until the anchor had been taken aboard, and without anything holding us back we soon found ourselves floating free.
We split up once more as we took to the helm, and in a matter of moments we soon discovered that the sails could be manipulated via the pulleys to catch the wind.
Together, we worked through the rigging and had our masts in full form and seconds later we had begun sailing out into open water under our own direction!
A direction which was done so without any instruction or tips from the Sea of Thieves team – it was just us on the water with the whim of adventure taking us away.
We grinned ear to ear as we began drifting further from our familiar tavern and towards an island off in the distance. We began roaming around the deck in preparation of things to come; we fired off a few cannonballs into the air in celebration, we toured the lower decks for further plotting. I foolishly decided that I could get a better vantage point by approaching the bow of the ship, only to fall off completely when I couldn’t hold my balance!
Breaking the surface, I plunged into the waters and shouted for my crew to swing the ship around. Luckily my crew wasn’t entirely heartless, and the anchor was dropped in response – though this took a few seconds to orchestrate, so it did look as if the ship might have been sailing off into the horizon.
It was entirely possible for my crew to abandon me in those equally unforgiving waters if they saw fit; there’s a sense of panic as you’re left in the middle of endless ocean, the rolling waves crashing around as the feeling of abandon sinks in.
As I began to clamour aboard, the rest of my crew prepared to sail off once again; they rushed off to the capstan and began to bring in the anchor, our appointed captain set a course for continued adventure and we were off!
It was only a few moments later that we realised the sun had been setting behind our ship – everything had been bathed in a warm orange glow, and fractured light sparkled across the water as far as any of us could see. We abandoned our posts to take in the sight, just staring in awe across endless horizon. The visuals within Sea of Thieves had impressed us before, but taking in our first shared sunset gave a glimpse of how immersive and awe-inspiring everything could be.
Afrer sailing through an expanse of ocean, our new motivation was to explore one of the nearby islands that came into view. We decided to venture towards a tall island that seemed to harbor a large spire in its center – we would come to refer to this as ‘Spiral Mountain’, given its similarity to the hub world from Banjo-Kazooie.
Suddenly, we managed to catch sight of another ships mast over the horizon!
The crew was set into frenzy as we set a new course – our ship turned swiftly, away from the beckoning shores of Spiral Mountain and into dangerous waters. While others might have been a little more diplomatic, our sense of due piracy took us to our cannons as we prepared for our chance meeting.
The next few minutes in Sea of Thieves were a blur of intense action, overwhelming victory and gut-wrenching panic.
When we were close enough to spot the crew of the opposing ship, we turned sharply to align ourselves with their cannons and began to fire! Some of our cannonballs soared over their sails, while others were directed into the depths surrounding the ship. We were only just learning how to fire properly when one of their cannons met the side of our ship!
There was a brilliant splintering of the deck as their cannonball exploded on impact, we had taken the first hit! Our crew was dauntless as we carried on through a second and third impact – we sent a volley of cannonballs in response, and luckily most managed to collide with their ship!
One of my shots was successful enough to punch through their lower deck, and I was immediately rewarded with a orchestrated sting!
Each time we managed to land a successive hit, the brief bit of music would rise in pitch, and it wasn’t long before our shouts of triumph were coupled with a stirring conquest anthem.
We dealt and received damage at an equal rate, and after a particularly aggressive shot brought with it a splintering eruption in our lower quarters followed by a rushing of water, we knew that one of us would have to inspect the damage below.
It wasn’t good, as you might expect – our trading of blows had left the hull of ship resembling Swiss cheese, and with each hole came with it a torrent of rushing water.
Approaching the spot of impact, we soon discovered that the previously ‘useless’ planks of wood could be used to cover the holes which prevented any further flooding.
We toured the lower decks in an effort to find all of the holes and patch them up, and it was to our horror that we discovered much of the brig was underwater. To add further insult to injury, there were new cannonballs tearing through the upper decks which made for serious multi-tasking.
Luckily our crew maintaining the cannons above had become especially adept at firing the cannons at the lowest decks of our rival ship, and after a few moments of fast-paced conflict obscured by heavy cannon smoke, we had managed to punch several lethal holes into their hull.
The rival crew had soon become overwhelmed with the damage we had dealt to their ship, and it soon began to sink as it invited the seas aboard. We watched them struggle to find the highest point of their ship, we watched as they tried to sail off to Spiral Mountain, all while spattering their damaged ship with cannonballs.
After an intense battle on the Sea of Thieves, it was finally over; their ship had taken on too much water and it began to disappear from view. Ours was hardly sea-worthy either, but it managed to stay afloat at least. We had won, and after celebrating our victory with shouts of praise, congratulations and laughter, we sailed our ship boldly to new horizons together.
As we left the Sea of Thieves booths it was obvious that Rare had created something very special – we set out for a mammoth task with very little instruction and nothing offered from any of the developers. Despite the factors that were against us, we managed to work together and figure out the mechanics of sailing, combat, repairing and even grog swilling!
The experience was one that is still as vivid as they day we set out as pirates, and I can’t wait to rejoin my crew, or perhaps even turn against them when Sea of Thieves reaches our shores.
Everyone at Rare should be incredibly proud of what has been accomplished, and continues to be accomplished every day with Sea of Thieves – a golden era has returned and this truly is their most ambitious undertaking, and it shows through the tiniest detail.
To Alex, Amir, Chad, Daniel, Hyle, Jackie, Jephren, Mandie, Mike, Olivier, Rodrigo and Sebastian, the days spent with you sticks out as some of the best memories I’ve ever had – we laughed together, cried together and sailed together. You’re all just a few clicks away on social media, but I still miss you all!
To everyone at Rare, I can’t thank you enough for this invitation, it has been the absolute highlight of my life and meeting you all was an utter dream come true. You’ve made all of this possible and you should take great pride in lighting the fires in the hearts of your fans across the world. Thank you so much.
To those who haven’t played Sea of Thieves before, I hope this experience provided even the faintest glimpse into a world dominated by enthusiastic highs, smooth sailing, dangerous depths and an unparalleled era of pirate adventure!
I don't think it has one. It has non-linear quests and is a shared open-world sandbox.
That scares me. I realize that's awesome for a lot of people, but I generally like playing games alone.
Yeah I think I even read somewhere that a single player found a ship he could pilot himself. I wonder what the extent of NPCs will be as well....for instance, can you get on a ship and have NPCs help you? Lots of skeletons in the E3 trailer, could be something with them as well.
Just give us a beta already!
Just give us a beta already!
Rare said it will be. You'll be able to pirate a small skiff if you want, but good luck with that when you see the cannon balls from the big boys sailing over your sails.
Players Can Play Sea Of Thieves Solo But Not Without Consequences
The post-death 'Ghost Ship' sounds fun...this game is quickly rocketing to the top of my 'most anticipated' list.
http://www.redbull.com/au/en/games/stories/1331805858652/sea-of-thieves-what-we-know-so-far-red-bull
Becoming a Pirate in Rare's Sea of Thieves
We almost don’t have to tell players what to do because of the pirate theme. You almost know because of watching films or TV, you know, growing up as a kid and wanting to be a pirate - all these things you do in a ‘piratey’ world; the items you’ve got and and the equipment to do what you do - players already know how to play.
Gregg Mayles, Design Director at Rare.
That was the opening introduction to our very own, intimate look at Rare’s Sea of Thieves, an Xbox One exclusive that allows multiple players to join together as a band of pirates in this so-called ‘piratey world’. It’s bloody fantastic.
When the game debuted as a trailer at last year’s E3, no one really knew what to make of it. In part because the concept is harder to translate to audiences than you might think without anyone being able to play the game (it wasn’t playable in 2015), and equally because it’s been a long time since we've seen this side of Rare.
We played the game for roughly 15-minutes on the showfloor at E3 and it was arguably the most fun we had from any game there. Five of us jumped on a pirate ship, only two of us actually knew one another, with the rest of the crew being strangers to both of us. You take up a role on the ship, such as myself taking the helm, my friend dropping sails and standing watch in the crow's nest, with the others manning the anchor (this is important), cannons and repairs.
Firstly, taking the helm isn’t easy because with sails down you can’t see where you’re going, which means you need people communicating with you about what’s ahead, or what needs to be avoided. In battle, this communication is utterly crucial too. Dropping anchor allows the helmsperson to make sharp turns and the gameplay is governed by a strict physics engine that belies the cartoony look of the game. Sailing in Sea of Thieves is a tough job and is wrought with danger. But the natural gravitation to the above tasks, and the quickness in which we all started doing our jobs and communicating was excellent.
“And that’s great because we don’t need a tutorial, we don’t need lengthy explanations of what things are,” Mayles continues, in talking about adoption of the concept and content for players from the outset. “We can just concentrate on putting players in this world and giving them fun, exciting and immersive things to do.”
There was no task set before us, we just started sailing. Players have an array of tools they can cycle through, such as the standard cutlass and pistol, or boards for patching up the hull of the ship if it’s damaged, but my friend, while stationed in the crow’s nest also discovered that you have ale in this list of items, and also learnt very quickly that drinking too much of it impairs your vision and balance. Obviously he fell overboard.
This was when we learnt to use the anchor which can help you turn more sharply so we could go back and get him as we were at full sail and were gunning through the gorgeous water. Interestingly we could have just left him there where the perils of the sea, such as sharks, could have gobbled him up. There’s no permanence to death, but tapping into the pirate theme, Rare developed an interesting way to handle death in the game.
“We went to pirate lore and have a concept of this kind of Ghost Ship. So when players die they go to the Ghost Ship,” Executive Producer Joe Neate reveals.
“It’s kind of like the waiting room in Beetle Juice,” Mayles adds with a chuckle.
They wouldn’t go into much more detail than this, but from the Ghost Ship there’s likely a death cooldown before you’re able to rejoin your crew, which they did confirm would still be adventuring a person (or persons) down. They also revealed that on the Ghost Ship, which will obviously be another social element of the game given multiple players will be dying in their own games, concurrent to yours, that the cause of your death will be displayed for all to see. The idea here is to have players having fun with with death, by making it social. You’ll also be able to converse with anyone you may have just been in battle with so, for a short while, your enemy becomes your friend. It’s an exciting concept.
After rescuing our drunken crew member we noticed another ship in close proximity and decided that with just a short amount of time left to play, we’d attack. They had the same thought and a wonderful pirate ship battle ensued. This was where working as a team was most important; with players handling the cannons, dropping anchor for sharp turns to gain ground on the other ship, and someone checking down in the hull to make repairs so we wouldn’t sink. The battle lasted for roughly 10 minutes before we emerged battered and bruised, but victorious. Off in the distance we saw another ship and an island, but before we could make a decision on what to engage next, our demo was over. But hot damn it was fun.
The key takeaway for us was in the emergent nature of the game. The adventure is ultimately player-driven and we were promised this was just a small vertical slice of what’s on offer with the likes of treasure, islands with walking skeletons to fight, sharks, mermaids (and mermen), sunken treasure and, of course, the Kraken (among a lot more not yet revealed).
“Some people will just want quests, you know, “I just want to go and do this and be able to achieve something, and then come back and spend my loot on upgrading my ship”, or something,” Joe enthuses. “Some people will just want the social side. Get on a boat with loads of booze and loads of instruments and just [make] a party boat -- just sailing around and being stupid and having fun.
“Other people will just want to get into their ship, then find another ship and sink it. And that’s cool too.
“It’s a shared-world experience; a shared adventure game,” he concludes. “And what that really means is that every time you see a set of sails in the distance, that’s another group of players and you’re not really sure what their intentions are -- are they going to come at you? Do they maybe need help? Do they want to parlay, or trade, or anything else?”
There’s no real release date set for the game yet, but we’ve been assured the next step is a closed beta, and with Gamescom approaching, that closed beta might come sooner than we think. And they emphatically pushed the idea that they want genuine player-feedback to drive the game’s future, as it’s still very much in development. And on this front we’ll be exploring what we want to see in the game in a future article, but for now this is a game you should absolutely be keeping an eye on.
The unique nature of cooperative and competitive team-based play, in an open-world governed with player-driven systems, is a recipe for truly emergent gameplay; watercooler moments that will drive more and more gamers to the world of Sea of Thieves. We’re already very much on board.
http://www.redbull.com/au/en/games/stories/1331805858652/sea-of-thieves-what-we-know-so-far-red-bull
Becoming a Pirate in Rare's Sea of Thieves
We almost don’t have to tell players what to do because of the pirate theme. You almost know because of watching films or TV, you know, growing up as a kid and wanting to be a pirate - all these things you do in a ‘piratey’ world; the items you’ve got and and the equipment to do what you do - players already know how to play.
Gregg Mayles, Design Director at Rare.
That was the opening introduction to our very own, intimate look at Rare’s Sea of Thieves, an Xbox One exclusive that allows multiple players to join together as a band of pirates in this so-called ‘piratey world’. It’s bloody fantastic.
When the game debuted as a trailer at last year’s E3, no one really knew what to make of it. In part because the concept is harder to translate to audiences than you might think without anyone being able to play the game (it wasn’t playable in 2015), and equally because it’s been a long time since we've seen this side of Rare.
We played the game for roughly 15-minutes on the showfloor at E3 and it was arguably the most fun we had from any game there. Five of us jumped on a pirate ship, only two of us actually knew one another, with the rest of the crew being strangers to both of us. You take up a role on the ship, such as myself taking the helm, my friend dropping sails and standing watch in the crow's nest, with the others manning the anchor (this is important), cannons and repairs.
Firstly, taking the helm isn’t easy because with sails down you can’t see where you’re going, which means you need people communicating with you about what’s ahead, or what needs to be avoided. In battle, this communication is utterly crucial too. Dropping anchor allows the helmsperson to make sharp turns and the gameplay is governed by a strict physics engine that belies the cartoony look of the game. Sailing in Sea of Thieves is a tough job and is wrought with danger. But the natural gravitation to the above tasks, and the quickness in which we all started doing our jobs and communicating was excellent.
“And that’s great because we don’t need a tutorial, we don’t need lengthy explanations of what things are,” Mayles continues, in talking about adoption of the concept and content for players from the outset. “We can just concentrate on putting players in this world and giving them fun, exciting and immersive things to do.”
There was no task set before us, we just started sailing. Players have an array of tools they can cycle through, such as the standard cutlass and pistol, or boards for patching up the hull of the ship if it’s damaged, but my friend, while stationed in the crow’s nest also discovered that you have ale in this list of items, and also learnt very quickly that drinking too much of it impairs your vision and balance. Obviously he fell overboard.
This was when we learnt to use the anchor which can help you turn more sharply so we could go back and get him as we were at full sail and were gunning through the gorgeous water. Interestingly we could have just left him there where the perils of the sea, such as sharks, could have gobbled him up. There’s no permanence to death, but tapping into the pirate theme, Rare developed an interesting way to handle death in the game.
“We went to pirate lore and have a concept of this kind of Ghost Ship. So when players die they go to the Ghost Ship,” Executive Producer Joe Neate reveals.
“It’s kind of like the waiting room in Beetle Juice,” Mayles adds with a chuckle.
They wouldn’t go into much more detail than this, but from the Ghost Ship there’s likely a death cooldown before you’re able to rejoin your crew, which they did confirm would still be adventuring a person (or persons) down. They also revealed that on the Ghost Ship, which will obviously be another social element of the game given multiple players will be dying in their own games, concurrent to yours, that the cause of your death will be displayed for all to see. The idea here is to have players having fun with with death, by making it social. You’ll also be able to converse with anyone you may have just been in battle with so, for a short while, your enemy becomes your friend. It’s an exciting concept.
After rescuing our drunken crew member we noticed another ship in close proximity and decided that with just a short amount of time left to play, we’d attack. They had the same thought and a wonderful pirate ship battle ensued. This was where working as a team was most important; with players handling the cannons, dropping anchor for sharp turns to gain ground on the other ship, and someone checking down in the hull to make repairs so we wouldn’t sink. The battle lasted for roughly 10 minutes before we emerged battered and bruised, but victorious. Off in the distance we saw another ship and an island, but before we could make a decision on what to engage next, our demo was over. But hot damn it was fun.
The key takeaway for us was in the emergent nature of the game. The adventure is ultimately player-driven and we were promised this was just a small vertical slice of what’s on offer with the likes of treasure, islands with walking skeletons to fight, sharks, mermaids (and mermen), sunken treasure and, of course, the Kraken (among a lot more not yet revealed).
“Some people will just want quests, you know, “I just want to go and do this and be able to achieve something, and then come back and spend my loot on upgrading my ship”, or something,” Joe enthuses. “Some people will just want the social side. Get on a boat with loads of booze and loads of instruments and just [make] a party boat -- just sailing around and being stupid and having fun.
“Other people will just want to get into their ship, then find another ship and sink it. And that’s cool too.
“It’s a shared-world experience; a shared adventure game,” he concludes. “And what that really means is that every time you see a set of sails in the distance, that’s another group of players and you’re not really sure what their intentions are -- are they going to come at you? Do they maybe need help? Do they want to parlay, or trade, or anything else?”
There’s no real release date set for the game yet, but we’ve been assured the next step is a closed beta, and with Gamescom approaching, that closed beta might come sooner than we think. And they emphatically pushed the idea that they want genuine player-feedback to drive the game’s future, as it’s still very much in development. And on this front we’ll be exploring what we want to see in the game in a future article, but for now this is a game you should absolutely be keeping an eye on.
The unique nature of cooperative and competitive team-based play, in an open-world governed with player-driven systems, is a recipe for truly emergent gameplay; watercooler moments that will drive more and more gamers to the world of Sea of Thieves. We’re already very much on board.
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